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Defensive end: Jacob Meyers, Sr., Burnt Hills: The 6-foot-5 standout finished with 33 tackles (13 for a loss), six sacks and five pass breakups. … “Without being related to Zach (Morton), you would think those two were related. When Jacob put on his helmet on game day, he became a different kid. He really led by example,” Burnt Hills coach Matt Shell said.

Defensive end: Zach Morton, Sr., Burnt Hills: Menacing edge-rusher collected 48 tackles, six sacks and added two blocked punts. … “Zach is just a hard-nosed, tough kid who is really intelligent, picked up things really well and is a fierce competitor,” Shell said.

Defensive tackle: David Jabour, Sr., Troy: Registered 84 total tackles, including an incredible 35 stops for loss, 15 quarterback pressures and seven sacks. … “We’ve been very fortunate to have some great defensive linemen over the years and David is as good has we’ve ever had. If he was 6-foot-3 (he’s 6-0), college coaches would be knocking down his door. David caused major havoc,” Troy coach Jack Burger said.

Defensive tackle: Mike Leisenfelder, Sr., Troy: The bruising standout collected 48 total tackles (15 for loss), three forced fumbles and one interception. … “Mike had a great senior season. David (Jabour) carried a great reputation and that allowed Mike to go 1-on-1. He has a knack for being around the football,” Burger said.

Linebacker: Eric Hayden, Sr., Saratoga: The Empire Division Defensive Player of the Year finished with 90 total tackles. … “First and foremost, Eric was like having another coach on the field. He prepared so hard and so well and made sure everyone else was where they needed to be. He was a great leader and commanded so much respect from his peers,” Saratoga coach Terry Jones said.

Linebacker: Josh Panasik, Sr., Schenectady: The hard-hitting Panasik finished with 84 tackles, four sacks and one fumble recovery. … “Josh is an intense football player who loved hitting people and he brought a great intensity to our football team,” Schenectady coach Jim Kramer said.

Linebacker: Tyler Washington, Sr., La Salle: The Liberty Division Defensive Player of the Year had 53 solo stops, 37 assisted tackles, 10 passes defended and four interceptions. … “Tyler is a special player and he did so many things well for us. We are definitely going to miss him,” La Salle coach Al Rapp said.

Linebacker: Dylan Wydronkowski, So., Burnt Hills: A starter at Scotia as a freshman, he made a huge impact for the Spartans, finishing with 101 tackles, three fumble recoveries and one interception. … “It was the perfect fit for us and him. Dylan loves the game and the position. He was born to play linebacker.”

Defensive back: Tyler Paluba, Sr., Burnt Hills: Paluba, a three-year starter, contributed 71 tackles, six interceptions and three fumbles recoveries. … “Tyler was really a jack-of-all-trades type of guy for us. He excelled on offense, defense and special teams. He is really a very good defensive player,” Shell said.

Defensive back: Mark Seager, Sr., Ballston Spa: Shared Empire Division Co-Player of the Year honors with Saratoga’s Tony DeLoatch and rushed for 920 yards and eight touchdowns to go with his stellar work in the secondary. … “Mark is super on offense, but a lot of people overlook what he meant to us defesnively. He is just an outstanding safety,” Ballston Spa coach John Bowen said.

Defensive back: Herman Seise, Sr., Schenectady: In addition to delivering 821 rushing yards, he proved to be quite valuable on defense. Opponents generally stayed clear of his area as the senior finished with 28 tackles. … “Herman is a productive player who gave every ounce of energy and ability he had to give. You can’t ask for more than that,” Kramer said.

Defensive back: Shawn Sweeney, Sr., Saratoga: Played a major role in stopping both the pass and run, finishing with 47 solo stops, 49 assisted tackles and two interceptions. … “He may have been unsung outside or our program, but we all knew what Shawn meant. He was the hardest-hitting kid on our team,” Jones said.

Punter: Ford Plowman, Sr., Saratoga: In addition to standout work at fullback and linebacker (105 total tackles), Plowman’s work at punter landed him his second-straight first-team selection. Opponents averaged just two yards per return. … “Ford’s hang-time, and ability to kick it away from people, really helped us gain field position when we had to punt. He has just been a great player for us all around and we’ll need three people to replace him,” Jones said.

Kick returner: Jordan Canzeri, Jr., Troy: The Section II Class A Player of the Year rushed for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns, plus added three kick returns for touchdowns, including a 95-yard kickoff return to open the game against Amsterdam. … “Jordan is a game-changer on offense and special teams. Any time he touched the ball, you looking were looking for him to go,” Burger said.

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Only 2 Saratoga kids on the entire first AND second teams for defense? James Allen continues to show his prejudice against Saratoga. WOW!!!! Saratoga had the BEST defense in the AA’s and perhaps in section 2. James, you rooted against Saratoga all year and it continues. Just listen to your comments on any of the tv games – it’s obvious.

Saratoga has three first team All-Area players on the defense — Eric Hayden, Shawn Sweeney and Ford Plowman.

Ballston Spa has one first team selection — Mark Seager.

The Scotties do have three second-team selections and Saratoga had none, so for defense the overall count is Saratoga (3) and Ballston Spa (4).

As for my rooting on TV, that simply did not happen. All I stated during the Super Bowl is the same thing everyone else saw: Saratoga dominated the scoreboard through their special-team prowess (returns, punts and kickoffs). The Blue Streaks longest drive of the game was 40 yards and they did not even score on it.

Saratoga was the better team and deserved to win the Super Bowl — regardless of my prediction.

So, I guess what I’m trying to figure out is three first team selections for Saratoga, compared to one for Ballston Spa, shows a bias against Saratoga? Wow.

Will you people please stop hassling Big Game? Like any of you know a damn thing about high school football besides the team you root for. Stop having such a huge bias that your respective team should have all 11 starters in the all area team. Big Game has to analyze EVERY player on EVERY team to make this list, now that is work and knowledge. Big Game, keep it up, good selections.

I do have a question James, when do the all state teams come out? Im very curious to see if Gallo gets the nod for Class B player of the year, the team had state success, I think he was the most dominant player in the state. Its gotta be between him and Dwyer of Hornell.

As to your question, those state all-star lists usually don’t come out until early January. Many papers around the state don’t run their all-star sections until Christmas, so it gives the New York State Sportswriters Association only a few weeks to round up all that information and make its selections.

To #8 — I would seriously doubt if Gallo will be state Class B Player of the Year. Although he rolled up tremendous numbers, the fact that he was so totally stopped by Nanuet really hurts him, especially compared with Dwyer’s postseason performance. Gallo’s only big playoff game came against Beekmantown which was generally considered to be one of the weakest quarterfinalist; while you can’t fault Gallo for Schalmont’s opposition, Dwyer gets much more credit for big games against Cheektowaga, Westhill and Nanuet. And Dwyer was also the state championship game MVP.

By the way, another great job by James Allen. Everyone can quibble about a pick here and there, none of the choices are off base and you can certainly make a case for all of them. I look forward to seeing the rest of James’ picks.

To #13- I see your point, Dwyer had big numbers against big competition. I just hope they take into account Gallo’s performance on both sides of the ball. Not only did he rack up over 2000 yards and 20+ TDs, the kid seriously had at least 200 tackles, and that stat was actually verified on the radio broadcast against beekmantown

HC45 — No doubt Gallo is a worthy contender and would definitely be a finalist. However, I think other than in Section 2 (and maybe 7/10), Dwyer would be the pick. I am they will find a spot for Gallo on the Class B first-team all-state, although I’m not sure where — there are Division 1-bound quarterbacks and Gallo is hardly your traditional QB; maybe on defense?

Steve-This is exactly what I wondered, if he was a running back he would easily be 1st team all state, but since he plays QB its different. There are QBs in the state who are real passers with great numbers through the air. Its unconventional to see a 2000 yd rusher QB, but i’ll be intrigued as to what the NYSSWA decides. I think he should make it for defense simply for his tackle count.

Since “All-Star Teams are chosen by TU Writers & Freelancers in consultation with coaches”, I was wondering… are the MVP’s of each sport chosen in the same manner? -or- Do you follow the individual MVP selections from (Suburban Council and/or Section II)?

I think you have Seager in the wrong spot. I got to see him once vs shen
then on TV in the Class AA superbowl. He’s was the most dangerous QB in AA, but he blew a few big plays as at safety. I think you may have streched a bit to put him on 1st team D but he should be on the list he was the MVP of the 2nd best team in AA. It just should have been at QB

Comment #1, WOW, 3 for any team is pretty good. James and the staff have made some worthy choices. James, what teams do you feel have the most impressive return players for next season? or is it way to early to ask?